Improvement in permutation-locks



2 Sh eets--Sheet 1. C. G. BLISS.

Permutation-Locks. No.156,9 06; Pat ented Nov.17,1874.

THE GIAPHIC GO. PROTU'UTILBQ [4| PINK PLACEJLY,

1 2Sheets--Sheet 2. B. C. BLISS.

Permutation-Locks."

THE GRAPHIC CILFNOTO'LITILZSI' 4 :PARK PLAOELN.

v UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

CHARLES C. BLISS, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN PE RMUTATION-LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 156.996, dated November17, 1874 application filed June 11,1874. 1

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES C. BLISS, of Norwich, in the county of NewLondon and State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvement inPermutation-Locks, of which the following is a specification:

This invention is a modification of and improvement upon the lock forwhich Letters Patent No. 146,424 were granted to me. In

' my present improvement the dog that holds the bolt is independent ofthe main or tumblerlever, and of its secondary or fence lever, and it israised by a jack upon the main lever when the tumblers are properlyplaced, but when thetumbler-notches are not in line with the fence, themovement of the tumbler-lever and its secondary lever causes the jack tobe thrown out of position, and hence to pass up at the side of thebolt-dog; therefore the bolt-dog will not be touched, and will continueto hold the bolt. I also make use of swinging hookshaped stops upon thetumblers to connect one tumbler to the next in its movement, so that thestops will allow each tumbler to be turned a complete revolution,instead of being limited in the movement by the thickness of thecontact-blocks, as is the case with circular tumblers having stationaryblocks. In order to clamp the notched tumbler-rings to the circularbodies of the tumblers, I make use of a screw and nut on each tumbler,and the screw or nut is turned by a key to slacken up the screw-clamp.The tumbler-rings are held in position by a pin or pick-up wire insertedthrough them, while the circular bodies of the tumblers are set to givennumbers successively by the knob and spindle. A guard prevents the keyfor the screw-clamps being turned except when the tumbler-rings are heldin position by the pin that passes through them, and said pin cannot bewithdrawn until the key is turned back to its place, and the tumblersclamped.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a view of the lock with the front plate andknob removed. Fig. 2 shows the tumbler-lever, jack, andboltdog in theposition that the parts assume if an effort is made to draw back thebolt when the tumblers are not set. Fig. 3 is a section of the tumblersat the openings in the rings for the pin that holds them while beingset.

pressed back the hook-ended block 3 upon tl.e

arm of the spindle serves to revolve and set the tumblers successivelyto the prearranged number, the dial or indicator 6 being employed asheretofore usual. The circular tumblers are composed of the disks h andtheir surrounding tumbler-rings k, and in the latter are the notches tfor the fence 1 upon the secondary lever m that has a fulcrum, 5, uponthe main or tumbler lever 40.. The arm n of the lever n is operated bythe spindle cam or arm f just before commencing to move the bolt. If thenotches z of the tumblers are in line with the fence, then said fenceenters the notches, and the jack 0 at the end of the lever n lifts thedog 1 clear of the stop 8 on the bolt, and the bolt is free to be movedendwise, but if the tumbler-notches are not in line with the fence l, asseen in Fig. 2, then the secondary lever cannot swing with the lever n,but its movement is such as to throw the jack aside and out of the wayof the dog r, so that the same is not raised, but it remains in place tohold the bolt. The jack 0 is a bent or L- shaped lever, and usuallyoccupies the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and it is held bythe spring 0 pressing the foot against the stop'pin 13. Uponone side ofthe tumbler-disk is a projection, 15, that is made with hooked ends, andupon the next tumbler-disk is a swinging cam and double-hooked stop, 16.The points of the hooks stand toward each other, so that, as theprojection 15 is moved,

it presses back one end of the stop 16 by coming in contact with theinclined end of 16, and in so doing the hook at the other end of 16 ismoved forward, and brought into line with the hooked end of 15, and thetwo hooks interlock and connect, so that one tumbler moves the other.Each tumbler-disk is to be provided with a projection, 15, and stop 16,eX- cept the last disk, which only requires the swinging stop. Thenotched ring it surrounds the tumbler-disk h, and the latter is free toturn in such ring when the clamping mechanism is loosed. The clampingmechanism is composed of a screw and nut acting laterally to press thering and disk together. The screw 8 may be stationary upon the ring h,and the nut a movable to press the washer v upon the edge of thetumbler-disk h, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, or else the screw may be movedby its arm or lever for the same purpose, as seen in Fig. 6. In eitherinstance the clamping is lateral, and results from partially turning thelever arm or fork of the nut or screw, such arms being acted upon bymechanism outside the tumblers, as follows: The stationary key t is madewith a polygonal axis, 20, upon which a key outside thelockcase may beinserted. Such key has as many bits as there are tumblers, and each bitcarries a pin, 19, that swings into the fork :0 of the nut u, or againstthe lever-arm, and turns the same either one way or the other, to loosenor tighten the mechanism that clamps the tumbler-ring to the disk. Thiskey must not be turned until the picking-up wire or rod 21 is insertedthrough the holes in the tumblers, retainin g them in position forsetting.

I employ the spring c that holds the key if from being turned by takingagainst the lower edge of the segment t that is fastened to the samekey, and swings with it. These parts are shown more clearly in Fig. 7.When this rod 11 is inserted into the tumblers, the spring o is pressedback out of the way of the segment t by the projection 24 on such rod,(see Fig. 3,) and that segment swings into the notch 26 of the rod 1),so that the rod cannot be withdrawn until the key is turned back toplace, thus preventing the tumbler-disks being released from thescrew-clamps until the disks are held by the pick-up rod, and preventingthat rod being withdrawn until the disks are again clamped.

The arms f at the inner end of the knobspindle are secured by thecounter-sunk nut f and the plate 0 prevents the knob being drawn out orthe spindle driven in. This plate 0 is perforated with holes, throughwhich screws, (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3,) are inserted from theback, so as to attach the lock-plate firmly to the inside of thesafe-door 0 before the box of the lock and its parts are applied to thelock-plate, and secured by the screws 0 (shown in Fig. 1.)

1 claim as my invention- 1. The jack 0 upon the lever n, in combinationwith the auxiliary lever m, bolt-dog r, and circular tumblers,substantially as set forth.

2. The screw-clamps operated by a fork or lever arm, and applied to andcombined with the ring-tumblers and disks, and acting to clamp the ringto the disk by lateral pressure, substantially as set forth.

3. The key if, applied within the lock-case,

and operated from outside that case, in combination with theclamping-screws, lever-arms,- and circular tumblers, substantially assetforth.

4. The segmental guardplate t, connected with the key t, and the spring'0, in combination with the pick-up tumbler-rod, and the screw-clampsupon the tumblers, as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The hook-ended swinging stop 16 upon the tumbler-disk, and thehook-ended projection 15, in combination with the circular tumblers, asand for the purposes set forth.

Signed by me this 6th day of June, A. 1). 1874.

CHARLES o. Bmss.

